Ara and Robert Hunt Give a Formerly Homeless Teen a Forever Home and Reunite Lost Siblings

When a social worker asked Robert and Ara Hunt if they wanted to meet the homeless 18-year-old biological sibling to their adoptive daughter Shyann, the couple initially said, "No!"

The young man, a senior in high school, recently had aged out of foster care, and was living in his car.

"We wanted nothing to do with him," Ara says. "We didn't know anything about him. We were afraid."

The Rockwall, Texas, couple's biggest fear was that the newly surfaced loner, then known as Seth, somehow would harm their family, which included three adoptive children: Cody, 16; Siara, now 13, and Shyann, 12.

Today, Seth is Logan Hunt, reunited with the biological sister he'd never known, and a much loved member of his "forever family," the Hunts.

The process was long in coming.

A Rocky Start

Taken from his biological mother at birth, Logan was adopted but later removed from that family and sent into foster care. He spent 11 years in the system. He recalls always being on the outside, even at Thanksgiving, when he says he was sent to his room so his foster parents could enjoy dinner with their "real" family.

While still in high school, Logan aged out. Taking his one pair of shoes and a few meager belongings, he moved into his car. He called his longtime Court-Appointed Special Advocate, Virginia Barrett, to tell her he was homeless.

"I got him a short-term place to stay," Barrett says, "but I knew he needed more. He needed a home."

Barrett was determined to help him.

"I went into his files and started looking through the records for anyone who might have an interest in him," Barrett says. "I found that a family had adopted his biological sister, Shyann. I called Shyann's mother, Ara Hunt."

Ara, Logan and sister Shyann and Robert Hunt

Michael Sharkey

Open Hearts

Meanwhile, a local TV station did a story about Seth aging out of foster care and being on his own.

Robert Hunt saw the segment.

"I was just knocked down," Robert said. "I think I'm a pretty good judge of character, and I saw good character in him."

Robert called Ara.

"I said, 'You have to watch this.' She saw the same thing I did – a boy with a good heart," he says.

Ara began texting him. Biological sister Shyann, meanwhile, was praying for the brother she'd never met.

"I don't know why, but he was on my mind," Shyann says. "I knew he was all by himself, and I wanted him to be okay."

Unknown to Shyann, her mom Ara and sister Siara already had arranged to visit the young man following a car accident.

The visit went so well that Ara brought the high school senior home to Rockwall to recuperate.

He never left.

Finally home

"Everyone just bonded," Ara says. "We felt that this was right, that he was family."

The Hunts began the process of adopting the family’s new addition, who changed his name to Logan Hunt.

Logan recently attended his first ever high school prom. His adoption soon will be finalized, the Hunts report.

Barrett, the CASA worker, could not be more pleased.

"In this very complicated situation that was scary for everyone," Barrett says. "People took risks and chances. Look how it turned out!"

For Logan, who is finally learning what it is to be part of a family, his life is completely different.

"After 13 years to finally find joy again, it's like having your first birthday," Logan says. "It's a heart-opening experience."